This revival of Shakespeare’s great tragedy of race and jealousy won’t get a fraction of the attention that the 2025 Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal production received, but there’s every hope it’ll be the better Othello. Certainly it doesn’t have $3,000 tickets, so that’s something.
The work of director Tom Morris has been little seen in London since he co-directed War Horse and then went off to run the Bristol Old Vic – but now he’s back with a bang, as this production marks the start of a five year partnership with Chris Harper Productions to direct Shakespeare plays for the West End.
Of course you need names for West End Shakespeare, and Morris’s cast is headed by a fascinating choice of Othello. As a big Black British star, David Harewood is a shoo-in for the role. But what’s most interesting about his casting is that this is his second time doing it: as a young man he was famously the first Black actor to play the role at the National Theatre, in 1997; he’s indicated he’s looking forward to returning to the part without all the cultural baggage and weight of expectations.
He’ll be joined by Toby Jones as Iago, looking to shed his saintly Mr Bates vs the Post Office image, while Desdemona will be played by US actor Caitlin FitzGerald, probably best known here for her role as Kendall’s trobled girlfriend Tabitha in Succession.
In terms of clues at to how Morris’s revival will play out, we’re told it’ll be modern dress, and it seems reasonably likely that the director (who is white) will play down the play’s racial politics: a series of Black directors have recently explored this more wholeheartedly and personally, and the official bumpf describes it as a story of ‘manipulation, jealousy and toxic masculinity’ – all of which are true! There will be music by indie legend and enthusiastic theatre score writer PJ Harvey.
